Rice Pudding Ice Cream

Flicking through cookbooks for some inspiration, came across this rice pudding ice cream recipe in The Catalan Country Kitchen. I’ve made hot and cold rice puddingdesserts before, but never in the form of ice cream. And with the sweltering summer heat.. a perfect frozen treat that’s both comforting and cooling. Marimar Torres is the author of the Spanish cookbook and I had the pleasure of meeting her last year over a very special lunch.

Studded with broken grains of rice, this popular Spanish “Gelat D’Arros amb Liet” makes a lovely textural change from other ice creams and the subtle flavors of cinnamon and lemon are really nice too. After hours in the freezer this ice cream sets rock hard so you will need to soften by leaving the container in the fridge for about twenty to twenty-five minutes before serving. I like making smaller quantities of ice cream (unless entertaining) so half the recipeif needed.

You could also experiment with other flavorings, like rose-water and saffron. I prefer using an electric ice cream maker when churning ice cream over the time-consuming manual method. And for dinner parties, serve this rice pudding ice cream in pretty little cups and saucers with a small wooden spoon to eat with on the side. Simply delicious.

Rice Pudding Ice Cream

(Makes 1.2 Liters)

Recipe adapted from the The Catalan Country Kitchen Cookbook by Marimar Torres

How to make:
Pour the cream and milk into a heavy based saucepan. Add the cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Place over medium heat and slowly bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and blanch the rice in boiling water for one minute, drain and run cold water over.
Add the rice to the boiling milk and continue to cook over low heat for 40 minutes or until the grains of rice are soft. Stir every now and then and if you notice a skin forming, stir it back into the milk mixture.

Once cooked, remove from heat and stir in the caster sugar. Discard the cinnamon stick and lemon peel, cool for about 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender and using the pulse button, break up the rice grains while keeping their texture. Chill the mixture before churning in an ice cream machine following the manufactures instructions… took about 30 minutes. Remove the freshly churned ice-cream to a freeze safe container, cover and freeze for a further 3 to 4 hours until firm.